


Along the Broken Road

by NegansBabyBoy



Category: Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Major Character Injury, Play Fighting, Romance, Swearing, The Author Adds Her Own Twist, mentions of past relationships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10042982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NegansBabyBoy/pseuds/NegansBabyBoy
Summary: This is the story of Ellis who struggles to survive with the help of a news reporter, a gambling con man, and a highschool football coach. What happens when trust is tested, relationships form, and people almost die? Ellis will just have to power through.





	1. The Burning Hotel

Ellis looked confused as he ran up onto the roof of a burning hotel. He looked around and started calling out as the others spoke among themselves. CEDA had decided to leave as quickly as possible, leaving the four survivors on their own. The large African-American man sighed and looked around. "Aw! They ain't coming back!" Ellis straightened up and smiled. "They might not be, but we can always...follow 'em." The only female of the group turned to them and nodded. "Well, I suppose we can. We'd better hurry on up, because this building is going to hell, and pretty quickly.'' The man in a bright white suit turned towards them, causing Ellis to slightly pause while the man spoke. Ellis had seen him before. "This fucking building is on fire. I'd like to get off of it. Now let's go." They slightly agreed and gathered a few weapons that the military had left. 

They gathered a few med kits, and pills. Ellis picked up a shot and tilted his head. "What's this..?" The suited man leaned over his shoulder and read it. "That would be Epinephrine shots." The other man, wearing a coaching uniform, raised an eyebrow. "Repeat it in English?" The suited man groaned slightly. "Adrenaline Shots. We'll need them, so take them." Ellis slightly nodded and soon smiled wide as he picked up an axe. "Oh, hell yeah! I got me a hatchet!" The man who looked like a coach nodded. "Everyone have a weapon? Good, let's go." 

As they fought their way through the zombies, most of everyone was surprised. Zombies were only myths until now. Ellis raised his pistol and shot a zombie in the head, freezing when he heard the suited man let out a loud yell. He turned around just in time to see the suited man stumble backward, a large zombie covered in boils throw up on the man. He seemed to panic as he tried to get the vomit off. He happened to be on the edge of the balcony as he stumbled blindly. Ellis' eyes widened as he ran towards him just as the man slipped and grabbed onto the side. Ellis shot the zombie, which popped like a balloon when it was shot, and reached out to pull up his fallen teammate. "Come on, man. Get on up here!" He smiled wide. The Suited man stared at him for a moment, feeling a bit of a familiarity towards him. Ellis patted his back and ran through the hordes of zombies. 

The only female of the group looked angry as she used her pump shotgun to blast at a long-necked zombie. The man who seemed like a coach came running towards her. "It's a spittin' thing!" He sighed as she killed it. "I can't find the other two. All I know is that they ran ahead. We need to hurry." The woman nodded and ran after the two. It wasn't long until they all met up in a large room that had so much smoke and fire, they couldn't see the ends of their weapons. The suited man took out one of the exploding men and sighed in relief until he heard a roar. He slowly looked up as parts of the roof started to cave in. He quickly yelled at everyone to run out as he ran out of the hotel, the others following him quickly. They went out into the streets, and there was a little clearing. There weren't any zombies around. 

Ellis spoke up and smiled brightly. "Well...I'm Ellis. I owned an auto shop downtown. I wasn't going to evacuate, so I armored up a truck. Turns out it was only ninety-nine percent zombie proof. That one percent blew that car to hell.." The woman flashed a small smile. "I'm Rochelle. I was a news reporter down here. I heard about the east coast, but...I never thought it was this bad." Next was the larger African American man. "You guys can call me Coach. I was a football coach at the high school near here." Ellis chuckled a bit. Ironic, he hadn't known his name, so he called him Coach in his mind. They all looked to the suited man who raised an eyebrow. "The name's Nick. Don't bother learning it, because I won't be sticking around. I'm gonna get out of this piece of shit city even if it kills me." As Nick spoke, he was staring at Ellis. He swore he'd known him from somewhere. He said he owned a shop? Right! The one next to the bar. Now Nick knew him. He slightly smirked as Ellis quickly glanced to the streets. Nick was going to enjoy pestering the kid.


	2. The Streets of Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellis and his new self-proclaimed friends escaped the hotel, only to get to the zombie infested streets. Nick finally decides to ask Ellis about the familiarity, and they find a gun shop! Things are starting to look up!

Ellis walked through the streets with his new friends, finger on the trigger of his pistol as he walked. Rochelle was busy walking with Coach and talking about the zombies she had heard of from her boss. They were the special zombies. Nick walked in front of Ellis with his head down. It was late afternoon, almost sunset, and they had to get to the mall. Nick was thinking as they walked, so he didn't speak much other than a smart-ass comment here and there.

As they ran to the CEDA tents, shooting every zombie who came running towards them. Ellis found a crate and opened it, digging through the pain pills to see if he could find something. Coach and Rochelle ran ahead to clear out some of the infected while Nick was left to babysit the hick, at least that's what Nick called him. Nick glanced around and soon got distracted by the ground slightly trembling, and he swore he heard a faint roar. He tilted his head and slightly walked towards the sound when he heard a screech and then Ellis yell. A zombie had dove on Ellis from the roof of the tent and was trying to kill him. Nick groaned and shoved the zombie off, shooting it in the head with his pistol. Ellis' eyes were wide with fear, but he was fine, only suffering slight cuts, not deep enough to worry over. Nick slightly smirked and pulled him up. "Come on, sport. Get up, we don't have time to be laying around.'' Ellis slightly nodded and stared at him.

Ellis paused for a second as Nick went to walk away. He sighed and reached out, grabbing the man's arm. "Uh...can I talk to ya for a minute?" Nick hesitated before nodding. He had already heard two Keith stories before they even made it to the CEDA vans. "Well...I swear I know you. I can't remember if I do or not. Do you know?" Nick slightly chuckled. "Yeah, I know you. I never knew your name, but I knew you owned that auto shop. You came in after work one night while I was at the bar next door. You had a few too many drinks and stumbled over to me, trying to talk to me. Your face was blood red and you were stuttering, so I didn't make out much, but you just had to talk to me. I got you some water and we talked for a little while. I got that you had your friend Keith and that you owned the shop, then we mostly talked about drinking and you asked me about my job. Understandable that you don't remember much. You tried to drive home, so I forced you to sit with me until the cab I called got there to pick you up." 

Ellis seemed a bit embarrassed, his cheeks going a bit red. He remembered some parts now. Sure, he found Nick to be interesting, so he wanted to go speak to him. He remembered that Nick was a gambler and that he didn't have a job. He slightly smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah! I remember you! Boy, it sure is nice seeing you again! I ain't never met a city slicker like you who was so nice!" Nick sighed out of slight irritation. Great, the kid was loud and yelling right in his ear. Ellis was loud enough to alert all of Savannah. "Ellis? Be quiet. I am not nice, so don't go spreading that shit around. You don't want to be associated with a guy like me. And why the hell do you keep following me around? I get it that we're in this group, but why do you stick right by my side? That's kind of strange." Ellis shrugged. "I dunno, man. I just like ya. You're fun to be around, plus somebody's gotta make sure you're okay!" Nick huffed out of irritation and ran to catch up with the others, who had went down the road and into a building.

They walked through the small building to the other side of the interstate. Ellis ran ahead a bit and soon let out a happy yell as he shot a zombie. "There's a gun shop near here! I know how to get there!" He screamed as he climbed a dumpster, the others quickly following. He quickly ran into the next building, Nick being the first one to complain. "Ellis, could you please slow down? I get it that we're all in a rush, but calm down, Farmer Joe." Ellis looked back at him and nodded. "Sure! Okay." Ellis lead them through the building and across a walkway, jumping down onto a truck and to the streets. He climbed up some stairs and went through the little room, climbing up to a walkway. Coach soon took the lead again. They slowed down to a walk again and climbed down the stairs, ending up right in front of the gun store. Ellis smiled wide as he threw open the door. They all picked out weapons while Coach talked to the store's owner. Coach came back and sighed. "If we go to the store down there and get him some Cola, we'll get the way cleared out for us. Finally something that makes since. A man and his snacks."

They all ran down to the store, Nick being the first to stop them. "When we open this door, the alarm will go off. Be ready for a fight.." As soon as he said that, Ellis threw open the doors, causing Rochelle to groan. She ran inside and looked around, snatching the drinks. She made a run for it with all the men right behind her, keeping them off of her. It was going swell until a long-necked zombie ran out and spit acid onto the group. They all scattered, Rochelle getting mobbed. Coach went down to the ground while Ellis chased the spitting zombie with his axe. Nick cleared the way for Rochelle before snatching Coach up. Ellis came running back and smiled wide. "I killed the Spitter!" Rochelle sighed in relief and placed the cola in the slot for the man. "Alright, as promised, I'll clear your path." And just as he said that the large truck that blocked their path exploded.


End file.
